S-Pulse 4-1 Mito Hollyhock (Emp Cup 3rd Rnd)

Barry writes:

S-Pulse 4-1 Mito Hollyhock
Iwashita 63-----------------Ohashi 53
Ono 66
Omae 91
Ota 94

Att. 3107

Line Up

GK Nishibe

DF Tsujio
DF Hiroi
DF Iwashita
DF Ota

MF Hyodo
MF Yamamoto M.
MF Ito T.

FW Ito S.
FW Nagai
FW Hara

Subs Used

Ono on for Ito T. (63)
Omae on for Yamamoto M. (79)
Nagasawa on for Hyodo (85)

Report

As I sit here scoffing the last of my S-Pulse birthday cake, finally I have some happy tidings to convey. We won a game! It feels like an age, and it's certainly been a while since we scored four. Yes, it was against J2 opposition, but boy does it relieve some of the gathering darkness of recent weeks.

It was all change after Sunday's aggregate defeat. Only Nishibe, Hyodo and Yamamoto remained, with Ito Sho making a first start. He was joined up top by Nagai and Hara. Not a bad front line by any means, and I was impressed with Sho's tricky dribbling game. He has a verve and confidence about him which I like, and want to see more of - especially against higher level opponents.

It looks like a comfortable enough scoreline on the face of it, but our four only came after an absolute howler by Nishibe to gift Mito a lead. Think Green's spillage for England in the World Cup and you've pretty much got it. A speculative effort from Ohashi should have been a straightforward collect, but the ball squirmed up and out of Yohei's hands and into the net. Not that it was the visitor's first attempt. Up to that point, Mito had hit us on the counter more than once and even had the ball in the net, but it was ruled out by the lineman's flag.

Mito's hardy travelling bunch

Nishibe's error kick started us somewhat, and after five corners in quick succession, we finally broke through via Iwashita. Three minutes later a penalty was put home by the just-brought-on Ono, whose introduction did the trick. He steadied the ship and helped sort out what creativity we'd been lacking in the centre of the park. After getting in front though, we did then tend to sit back and invite Mito onto us, which ensured a nervy end to the game. That was until the very end when a couple of swift moves resulted in goals for Omae and Ota, with Ota's being the last kick of the game.

Kick off

In the next round we play Yokohama F. Marinos. The game is scheduled for Wednesday November 17th, location to be confirmed.

Videos

Iwashita's equaliser.



Here's a vid I took of our second, Ono's penalty - his third goal in three games, no less!



Omae with our third.



Ota makes it four.

Yokohama FM 2-6 S-Pulse (Satellite) / Plymouth Argyle???

Barry writes:

Over in Yokohama, S-Pulse's satellite team played Marinos' equivalent today. Two games were played, the first ending 1-0 to the home team, the second 5-1 to us.

The satellite line up differs from regular J. League in that it's a mixture of first teamers and reserves with unlimited substitutions available. Over the first 90 minutes 14 different players took to the field, and in the second game we tried out 18 different players.

Our goals came from:

Fujimoto
Okazaki (2)
Johnsen
Ito
Nagai

Great to see both new singing Ito getting on the score sheet, and Okazaki showing he's raring to go after his World Cup adventure. Click here for full line ups (in Japanese). Speaking of Okachan:

Plymouth Argyle - Are You High?

It was reported on Suponichi via the Daily Mail that Plymouth Argyle hope to sign our Okazaki.

Yes, that's Plymouth Argyle, currently in the third tier of English football alongside the likes of Exeter City and Walsall. And, yes, that's Okazaki, the Japanese international who just held his own in the World Cup against the best Dutch, Danish and Paraguayan defenders, and who was the highest scorer in international football in 2009.

It remains to be seen if Okachan, who has stated in the past his hope to move abroad one day, will be enticed by the prospect of playing in front of 5000 people away at Carlisle, or, even better, 2500 at Dagenham and Redbridge.

Seriously, Shinji - you're playing at a higher level than England's third division already. Much like Jubilo's Robert Cullen snubbed Plymouth last year, don't even think about it. I've nothing personal against the Pilgrims, (I'd say the same thing if my beloved Albion made a bid), but for an international striker hitting the peak of his career, a move to England has to be at least to Championship level.

World Cup monopolises my life - Sho Ito Signs

Barry writes:

S-Pulse are off in Gotemba (minus Okazaki who is busy firing Japan into the last 16 in South Africa) for their mid-season camp and I, like the rest of you, am existing on a substantial and enduring lack of sleep. The eight hour time difference, and the resulting sleep deprivation incurred when watching games live, means this website is very much in World Cup hibernation mode.

However, in the preceding fortnight it was announced that a new addition to the Orange Machine is 21 year old Sho Ito from French team Grenoble Foot 38. The former under 20 national team member is the first Japanese player to have gone straight to Europe from high school, and counts Arsenal manger Arsene Wenger amongst his fans.

I'm looking forward to seeing some of the 184cm striker in action.